'A League of Their Own': Women who inspired the movie will play again

A League of Their Own: About 50 women from the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League will reunite and play in Syracuse, N.Y. Saturday. Will "League of Their Own" actors Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, Madonna, and Rosie O'Donnell make an appearance?

By
Staff, Associated Press /
September 21, 2012

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Madonna, right, signing autographs for members of the media during filming of "A League of Their Own" at Bosse Field in Evansville, Ind., in 1991. The women who inspired the movie are holding a reunion in New York.

AP Photo/The Evansville Courier & Press

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Cooperstown, N.Y.

The real-life inspirations for the film "A League of Their Own" are taking a trip to the National Baseball Hall of Fame as part of their reunion being held in central New York.

The league was formed during World War II as many minor league and major league players were entering the armed services. The all-women's league operated between 1943 and 1954 and had 15 different teams and more than 600 players.

Shelley McCann, one of the reunion organizers, told The Post Standard of Syracuse this summer that many of the league alumni coming to the reunion in Syracuse are in their 70s, though some intend to play in the softball game. She’s hopeful that Betty Horn, who is better known as “Betty Spaghetti” and featured in the movie, will be present. She said movie director Penny Marshall has attended reunions in the past and there may be others, who helped make the the movie "A League of Their Own," coming to Syracuse.